Bridge repairs slated for Normanskill Farm

March 20, 2012

by Kellie McGuire

Normanskill Bridge / Kellie McGuire

The historic Normanskill Farm Bridge in Albany is slated for repair. The city has budgeted $150,000 for this project, according to Regina Goodbee the deputy city clerk. Repairs are needed on some very minor cracks in the structure. The Albany Common Council Board of Contract and Supply is in the process of reviewing bid proposals from two contractors: Vector Construction Corp of Cicero, N.Y. and James H Maloy, Inc. of Albany.

Every two years, a consulting engineer hired by the city inspects each of the city’s bridges, said William Lecuyer, the project manager for the city’s civil site engineering group. The engineer identifies defects, submits a report and makes a recommendation for repair or replacement.

A structural inspection was performed on the Normanskill Bridge using a dye technique which identified some minor cracks at the connections. The cracks are a result of aging materials. The bridge was built approximately 150 years ago and it is made of iron, not of the steel of modern bridges. “The recommended repairs are preventative in nature,” said Lecuyer “They are really rudimentary.”

Fixing them now will pre-empt a much larger project restoring a historical site in the future.

Normanskill bridge / Kellie McGuire

The repairs call for welding the tiny cracks to prevent them from becoming any worse. The construction project will also include putting in some signage, and drainage, as well as fixing the site approach; a bunch of little things, said Lecuyer.

The Normans Kill Bridge was designated a National Register of Historical Place in 1971. It is known on the registry as the Whipple Cast and Wrought Iron Bowstring Truss Bridge. Designed by local engineer Squire Whipple (1804-1888) and fabricated in 1867 it was originally erected in a different location which reported as unknown by the National Registry. The bridge was moved to its present location over the Normanskill in 1900. It is one of the only Whipple Truss Bridges remaining in the United States.

To get to the Normanskill Bridge turn right off Delaware Avenue onto

Whipple Bridge information / Kellie Mcguire

Normanskill Road just before the Town of Bethlehem. The road is a patch work of pavement and exposed yellow brick. About three quarters of a mile down the twists and turns the Whipple Truss Bridge is seen on the right. Normanskill Road continues on to the dog park, a parking lot, and the farm.

The Normanskill Farm is a city-owned park with a working farm, historic farm buildings, and is home to Albany’s Mounted Police Unit’s draft horses. In addition it contains Albany’s largest community garden, hiking trails, and a dog park.

Kellie McGuire

No decision has been made on the contract award for the bridge. The budget for this project is $150,000 and the two bids received were each at least $120,000 over that limit, Goodbee said. The next Contract and Supply Board meeting is Tuesday April 3. Goodbee said the Board of Contract and Supplies may simply reject the bids it currently has and put the contract out to bid again in order to get an offer more in line with the city budget. -30-